Happy Easter, Passover, Norooz, Spring...

To all readers of Moonrise Press books - Best wishes for Happy Easter, Passover (passed) and Norooz (also passed)...

Here's my haiku (Japanese) for everyone celebrating the coming of the spring and new hope, new life, new beginning...

Maja Trochimczyk

the lily of our valley sings happiness in high noon sun

Saturday - Teatr Hybrydy Sing Milosz and Herbert at the Ruskin

TEATR HYBRYDY
Rushing running living

PoLISH POETRY AND MUSIC

WHO: Piano and Voice – Dominika Świątek | Narration – Bartłomiej Ardecki

Guitar – Marcin Dąbrowski | Directed by Maciej Dzięciołowski

WHERE: Ruskin Art Club, 800 S. Plymouth, Los Angeles, CA 90005

WHEN: Saturday, 9 March 2013, 6:30 p.m.

WHAT:  Music theater inspired by the poetry and music of Czeslaw Milosz, Zbigniew Herbert, Juliusz Slowacki Jacek Kaczmarski, Marian Hemar, Wladyslaw Szpilman

Performed by Dominika Świątek, Bartłomiej Ardecki and Marcin Dąbrowski. Directed by Maciej Dzięciołowski. Performed in Polish with English translations.

RSVP: Moonrise Press, c/o Maja Trochimczyk, PO Box 4288 Sunland CA 91041-4288;

$25 per person, $15 students PayPal: maja.trochimczyk@gmail.com, Tel: 818 352 4411

DIRECTIONS

North of 10, South-west of 101;

West of Crenshaw Blvd and South

Of Wilshire Blvd.  Street Parking.

Teatr Hybrydy UW is one of the oldest student theaters in Poland, the cultural heir of the legendary Hybrydy founded in 1957. In its earlier iteration,  Hybrydy was the springboard to national career of such great musicans and writers as: singers and writers Wojciech Młynarski, Jonasz Kofta, and Jan Pietrzak, and jazz musicians Urszula Dudziak, Michał Urbaniak, and Krzysztof Komeda. The re-activated Teatr Hybrydy UW is connected to Poland’s best institution of higher education, the University of Warsaw, since Hybrydy’s inception in 2005. The Hybrydy ensemble includes students and graduates of other colleges and universities, especially from the arts and music departments. Hybrydy has performed several dozen premieres and has a broad repertoire of many plays and concerts. The texts range from ambitious poetry by Herbert, Miłosz, or Słowacki, to humorous work by Mrożek, Przybora or Kaczmarski. The lighter fare includes dance and music, mystery plays, comedies, cabaret, and more. The Teatr Hybrydy UW has presented its projects in many locations in Poland and abroad, while working under the auspices of important cultural institutions in Poland. It is beloved by its audiences. 

Dominika Świątek is a singer, composer, and a Polish literature scholar. She is the co-founder of the legendary Teatr Hybrydy UW, reborn in 2005. On stage, she performs poetry and music. She issued two CDs with her compositions: Siódmy Anioł (The Seventh Angel) to the poetry of Zbigniew Herbert (issued in 2006 by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage), and Proroctwo (Prophecy) to the poetry by Juliusz Słowacki (issued in 2010 by the Senate of the Republic of Poland). Świątek created a musical evening based on the work of a Russian poet, Osip Mandelstam, premiered in 2012 by the Jewish Theater. In addition to her own works, she performs songs by Bulat Okudzawa, Jacek Kaczmarski, and, with her ensemble „Piąty Dzień” (The Fifth Day), she sings Serge Gainsbourg’s songs. She wrote music to poems by a contemporary Polish poet, Marlene Zynger and currently works on a CD to poetry by Miłosz and on another CD to include her own songs about men and women. Świątek performed in many cities in Poland, as well as in Lvov, Vilnius, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Berlin and Birmingham.

Marcin Dąbrowski, educated as a psychologist, is a graphic artist and musician. The owner of an arts agency, he writes texts and arranges music in his spare time. His musical interests started in elementary school when he encountered the work of Jacek Kaczmarski. He soon decided that his musical development would be best served by the guitar. In recent years, he participated in several dozen musical projects as a guitar player and singer. He also appears with his ensemble, where he performs the multiple roles of a lyricist, arranger, singer and guitarist.

Bartłomiej Ardecki is an actor and a student of the University of Warsaw  and of the Military Technical Academy in Warsaw. He is also established as a chef, working in several well-known Warsaw restaurants. Ardecki appeared in many performances by Teatr Hybrydy UW. He also performed in Polish films and collaborated with actors’ agencies and publicity firms.

Maciej Dzięciołowski – is a director, actor, stage designer, manager, lawyer, and a lecturer.  He graduated from the Ludwik Solski Theater University in Kraków, as well as the University of Warsaw and the Wyszyński University in Warsaw. In 2005, he co-created the re-activeated Teatr Hybrydy UW. Since 2006, he directed many spectacles and concerts, performed in Poland and abroad. In Warsaw his work was seen at Teatr Ochota, Palladium, Collegium Nobilium, Warsaw Uprising Museum, Museum of Independence, and other theaters. His shows were presented on stage in France, Austria, Russia, Canada and Lithuania. He received many scholarships and awards. In 2011 he was the recipient of the Golden Leaf for directing and writing the spectacle „Jak ty nic nie rozumiesz...” (How you do not understand anything).

Moonrise Press Presents Theater "Hybrydy" from Warsaw, Poland - March 9, 2013

TEATR HYBRYDY

Rushing running living

PoLISH POETRY AND MUSIC

WHO:  Hybrydy Student Theater of The University of Warsaw

Piano and Voice – Dominika Świątek | Narration – Bartłomiej Ardecki

Guitar – Marcin Dąbrowski | Directed by Maciej Dzięciołowski

WHERE: Ruskin Art Club, 800 S. Plymouth, Los Angeles, CA 90005

WHEN: Saturday, 9 March 2013, 6:30 p.m.

WHAT:  Music theater inspired by the poetry and music  of Czeslaw Milosz, Zbigniew Herbert, Juliusz Slowacki Jacek Kaczmarski, Marian Hemar, Wladyslaw Szpilman

Performed by Dominika Świątek, Bartłomiej Ardecki and Marcin Dąbrowski. Directed by Maciej Dzięciołowski. Performed in Polish with English translations.

RSVP: Moonrise Press, c/o Maja Trochimczyk, PO Box 4288 Sunland CA 91041-4288;

$25 per person, $15 students PayPal: maja.trochimczyk@gmail.com Tel. 818 352 4411

DIRECTIONS

North of 10, South-west of 101;

West of Crenshaw Blvd and South

Of Wilshire Blvd.  Street Parking.

TEATR HYBRYDY

GoniMy dopóki zywi

Polska POEZJA i MUZYKA

KTO:  Studencki Teatr Hybrydy Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego

Fortepian/Śpiew – Dominika Świątek | Recytacja – Bartłomiej Ardecki

Gitara – Marcin Dąbrowski | Reżyseria Maciej Dzięciołowski

GDZIE: Ruskin Art Club, 800 S. Plymouth, Los Angeles, CA 90005

KIEDY: Sobota, 9 marca 2013 r., godz. 18.30 wieczorem

CO: Teatr inspirowany poezją i muzyką Czesława Miłosza,

 Zbigniewa Herberta, Juliusza Słowackiego, Jacka Kaczmarskiego,

Mariana Hemara, Jerzego Jurandota, i Władysława Szpilmana

w wykonaniu Dominiki Świątek, Bartłomieja Ardeckiego

i Marcina Dąbrowskiego, w reżyserii Macieja Dzięciołowskiego.

Angielskie przekłady w programie.

RSVP: Moonrise Press, c/o Maja Trochimczyk,

PO Box 4288 Sunland CA 91041-4288;

$25 od osoby, $15 dla studentow

PayPal: maja.trochimczyk@gmail.com

Tel: 818 352 4411

DOJAZD

Na północ od 10, południowy zachód od 101;

na zachód od Crenshaw Blvd i na południe

od Wilshire Blvd.  Parking na ulicach.

  

Memento Vitae - Now in Spanish Translation!

The wonderful poet Elsa S. Frausto, raised in Argentina and living in Southern California, has added another link to our International Translation Project. "Memento Vitae" by Maja Trochimczyk now appears in Spanish.  We would love to find a place for it on a Spanish-language blog or poetry zine. The poem was previously published in English, Serbian, Polish and French.


Memento Vitae

Hablemos de morir.
El jadeo del último suspiro.
El fin. O quizás no.
No lo sabemos.
Hablemos del último día.
¿Qué harías si lo supieses?
¿A quién amarías?
¿Encontrarías tu más querido,
tu más secreto amor?
¿O sólo te quedarías en el círculo
que te contiene?
¿Robarías o insultarías a alguien?
¿Llorarías?
¿Quemarías tus papeles?
¿Si el tejido de tu futuro
se abreviara en un día,
o quizás sólo en una hora?
Hablemos entonces de vivir.
Tu siguiente aliento,
el que te llevará
al siguiente minuto,
al latir que sigue.
Casi- ahora.

Translation- Elsa S. Frausto
                  January 21, 2013

Elsa S. Frausto's work has appeared in many local and international publications, among them Porte des Poetes, Speechlessthemagazine, Poem of the Month in Poets at Work, Badlands and Poets on Site. She was the coordinator and host for Camelback Readings held at the Sunland-Tujunga Library. She has been a member of the Chuparosa Writers for many years and is Poetry Editor and Translator for the Spanish language literary magazine la-luciernaga.com

Memento Vitae

Let's talk about dying.
The gasp of last breath.
The end. Or maybe not,
We don't know.
Let's talk about the last day.
What would you do
if you knew?
Whom would you love?
Would you find your dearest,
most mysterious love?
Or would you just stay
in the circle of your own?
Would you rob, steal
or insult anyone?
Would you cry?
Burn your papers?
If the fabric of your future
shrank to one day,
or maybe just an hour?
Let's talk about living, then.
The next breath,
that will take you
to the next minute,
the next heartbeat.
Just about - now.

(c) 2008 by Maja Trochimczyk

The original version of this poem was published in October 2009, in the Clockwise Cat:  http://clockwisecat.blogspot.com/2009/10/two-poems-by-maja-trochimczyk.html

Best Wishes for the Best and Happiest New Year!

Camellia blossom, Descanso Gardens, December 2012

The Year 2013 will be very unusual. It is going to be the Year of the Snake, apparently filled with good luck, material blessings, but also with deception and interpersonal problems.  What it willl be depends on us, and we can make it a beautiful, blessed year, if we property focus our attention on things that matter.

Haiga "The Gift" (c) 2012 by Maja Trochimczyk

In response to an invitation by Susan Rogers, I created a little reminder of this focus on what really mattters as a bas-relief collage haiga, that is a paper and fabric image with a haiku-like comment.  The invitation was to create a poem or an art-work on the theme of the Snake or Target on a rectangular board.  The results in the form of calligraphy, artwork, photos will be displayed at the Japanese American Cultural Center in Los Angeles.  

My choice to make a surreal flower with petals from a white poinsetta, daisy, and a photo of matilla poppy, with a double eye in the middle reflected the choice of the theme - the Target.  I called my little art-piece for the New Year 2013- "The Gift" - and I think a lot of people, especially Christians and those following mystical traditions know the answer to this riddle.

If not, reading the anthology Meditations on Divine Names is highly recommended.

Ever calling - Never heard

Ever seeking - Never seen

Revealed

Detail from "The Gift" (c) 2012 by Maja Trochimczyk

Happy New Year 2013!

A Gift to Share - Poetry Anthologies for Christmas

The time of giving, the time of sharing... Moonrise Press published two anthologies that are ideal gifts to be enjoyed under the Christmas tree, by the fireplace after skiing, or sitting on a patio watching the mist over mountains in Hawaii... What's so enjoyable about anthologies? The juxtaposition of different poetic voices, sharing common themes, but approaching them in completely different ways.

Meditations on Divine Names is an anthology of contemporary poetry on religious themes, featuring 140 poems by 64 poets, associated with diverse spiritual traditions. Their poems represent various branches of Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Kabbalah, Wicca, Sukyo Mahikari, and ancient Greek, Egyptian, Hawaiian, and Slavic religions. The book, edited by Maja Trochimczyk, is divided into ten paired sections: Naming, Names, Earth, Water, Air, Fire, He, She, Being, and Loving. ISBN 978-0-9819693-8-1 - $21 (lulu.com)

The following poets are represented: MJ Adams, Nicholas Alexander, Catherine Auman, Jon B., Marcielle Brandler, Sharon Chmielarz, Joe Decenzo, Carol Dorf, Kate Hallett Dayton, Carl Estrin, Amy Falvey, Elsa S. Frausto, Bill Gillard, Michael Graber, John Guzlowski, Peter J. Harris, Carl Hitchens, Marlene Hitt, G. Bennett Humphrey, Oriana Ivy, Mitch James, Roy Jacobstein, Lois P. Jones, James Levin, Terranda King, Alexis Krasilovsky, Leonard Kress, Sharmagne Leland-St.John, Rick Lupert, Radomir Voytech Luza, Czeslaw Milosz, Rajiv Mohabir, Geoshino Ollscia, Shirley Dunn Perry, Nils Peterson, Lenora Popa, Kate Robinson, Susan Rogers, Mary Kay Rummel, Nicholas Samaras, Peter Shefler, Marian Kaplun Shapiro, Dorothy Skiles, Lee M. Sloca, J.D. Smith, Barry Spacks, Odarka Polanskyj Stockert, Charles A. Swanson, Taoli-Ambika Talwar, Judith Terzi, Maja Trochimczyk, Ann Tweedy, Davi Walders, Martin Willitts Jr., and Kathabela Wilson.

Chopin with Cherries: A Tribute in Verse is an anthology of poetry edited by Maja Trochimczyk to celebrate the 200th birth anniversary of a Polish pianist-composer, Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849) with a selection of 123 poems by 92 poets. The hightlights include the first English translation of Norwid's Fortepian Szopena by Leonard Kress. Published in February 2010 and illustrated with vintage Chopin postcards and art.  ISBN 978-0-9819693-0-5. Available in Paperback Edition ($23.00) or PDF Download ($10.00).

"Maja Trochimczyk's Chopin with Cherries... is a masterful celebration of this composer and the complex range of emotions, impressions, memories, and dreams his music evokes... Finally, let me say that I cannot remember reading an anthology of poems centered around a single-theme that I liked more. The poems Maja Trochimczyk has gathered together to commemorate Chopin's 200th birthday are inspiring and exhilarating, as I have already noted, and - I don't know how else to say this - fun to read." John Z. Guzlowski in The Cosmopolitan Review 2 no. 1 (Spring 2010).

The poets in Chopin with Cherries include: Millicent Borges Accardi, Austin Alexis, Lucy Anderton, Sheila Black, George Bodmer, Lia Brooks, Kerri Buckley, Allison Campbell, Peggy Castro, Sharon Chmielarz, Victor Contoski, Clark Crouch, Beata Pozniak Daniels, Jessica Day, Diane Shipley DeCillis, Lori Desrosiers, Charlie Durrant, T. S. Eliot, David Ellis, Donna L. Emerson, Charles Ades Fishman, Jennifer S. Flescher, Gretchen Fletcher, Linda Nemec Foster, Emily Fragos, Jarek Gajewski, Helen Graziano, John Z. Guzlowski, Lola Haskins, Shayla Hawkins, Elizabyth A. Hiscox, Marlene Hitt, Roxanne Hoffman, Laura L. Mays Hoopes, Ben Humphrey, Carol J. Jennings, Charlotte Jones, Lois P. Jones, Georgia Jones-Davis, Christine Klocek-Lim, Jean L. Kreiling, Leonard Kress, Emma Lazarus, Marie Lecrivain, Jeffrey Levine, Amy Lowell, R. Romea Luminarias, Rick Lupert, Radomir V. Luza, Mira N. Mataric, Ryan McLellan, Anna Maria Mickiewicz, Elisabeth Murawski, Ruth Nolan, Cyprian Kamil Norwid, Rosemary O'Hara, Dean Pasch, Nils Peterson, Richard Pflum, William Pillin, Kenneth Pobo, Carrie A. Purcell, Marilyn N. Robertson, Susan Rogers, Alison Ross, Mary Rudge, Russell Salamon, Gabriel Shanks, Marian Kaplun Shapiro, Joseph Somoza, Lusia Slomkowska, Kathi Stafford, Maxine R. Syjuco, Fiona Sze-Lorrain, Margaret C. Szumowski, Katrin Talbot, Taoli-Ambika Talwar, Thom Tammaro, Mark Tardi, Cheryl M. Thatt, Tammy L. Tillotson, Maja Trochimczyk, Helen Vandepeer, Devi Walders, Erika Wilk, Martin Willitts, Jr., Kath Abela Wilson, Leonore Wilson, Meg Withers, Anne Harding Woodworth, and Marianne Worthington.

Memento Vitae - An International Translation Project

Memento Vitae

Let’s talk about dying,
The gasp of last breath.
The end - or maybe not,
We don’t know.

Let’s talk about the last day.
What would you do
If you knew?
Whom would you love?
Would you find your dearest,
Most mysterious love?
Or would you just stay
In the circle of your own?
Would you rob, steal
Or insult anyone?
Would you cry?
Burn your papers?
If the fabric of your future
Shrank to one day,
Or maybe an hour?

Let’s talk about living, then.
The next breath,
That will take you
To the next minute,
The next heartbeat.

Just about – now. 

(c) 2008 by Maja Trochimczyk

__________________________________________

My most recent project is publishing the same poem about living in the present in the greatest number of languages possible. Memento Vitae so far appeared in several publications in the original English. 

• "Memento Vitae" and "A Lesson for my Daughter" in the poetry column "Poetry Corner: Back to School Everyone" in The Voice of the Village monthly, vol. 3, no. 9, September 2012. 
• "Memento Vitae" posted in the Poetry Laurels blog, August, 14, 2012.
• "Memento Vitae" published in the journal Clockwise Cat, October 6, 2009.

However, when it was translated into Serbian by Dr. Mirjana Mataric and published in two venues in Serbia, I decided to spread the good news, and turn the poem into a project of remembrance and focus. The only happy people are those who live well, in the present, without regrets and without a turmoil of desires. My poem is a lesson in that. In Serbian it appeared in a literary journal Svenske and in a daily newspaper Vecernje Novosti in Belgrade, in July 2012.  

• "Memento Vitae" in Serbian translation by Dr. Mirjana N. Radovanov-Mataric, in Vecernje novosti (daily newspaper in Belgrade), 21 July 2012


• "Tulip Dust" in Serbian translation as "Prah lala," and four other poems ("Sierra," "Ganesha," "Memento Vitae" and "What I love in Poland") translated by Mirjana N. Mataric. SVESKE, God. 22, Knj. 104, June 2012. p. 29.

Only after the Serbian translation has proven to be such a big hit, I translated it into Polish, while Elizabeth Zapolska-Chappelle made a French version (reproduced below with the English), and Elsa Frausto, an Argentinian Californian of Slavic descent, has started to work on a Spanish version. 

Having a poem, any poem, picked for publication by a major national daily paper is a reason for celebration. And I'd like to celebrate it by spreading the news about this poem and its impact, as a reflection on the meaning of life and the universe and everything... Other translators are welcome. 
________________________________

POLISH TRANSLATION

Memento Vitae  

 

Mówmy o śmierci.

Twój ostatni oddech

To koniec – a może nie?

Nie wiesz nic.

Mówmy o ostatnim 
Dniu. Co byś zrobił

Gdybyś wiedział?

Kogo byś kochał?

Czy szukałbyś swej najmilszej,

Najgłębszej miłości?

A może byś został wśród bliskich

Których dobrze znasz?

Czy okradłbyś kogoś,

Obrabował, obraził?

Czy zacząłbyś rozpaczać?

Wrzucił listy w ogień?

Gdyby kanwa twej przyszłości

Znikła? I zostałby ci tylko 
Dzień? Lub godzina?

Mówmy więc o życiu.

Każdy oddech niesie cię 
W taniec minut, sekund. 
W rytm serca.

Właśnie tak.    

(c) 2008 by Maja Trochimczyk, translation (c) 2012 by Maja Trochimczyk

_______________________________________________

FRENCH TRANSLATION

Memento Vitae

Et si l’on chantait la mort ?
Le bruit du dernier soupir ?
Est-il vraiment le dernier ?
Qui peut en être assuré…

Et si l’on chantait l’ultime jour ?
Comment serais-tu devenu
A l’annonce de son arrivée ?
Vers quel amour serais-tu allé ?
Vers le plus beau et l’inconnu,
Le plus mystérieux des amours ?
Ou vers celui qui t’accompagne
Depuis une éternité ?
Aurais-tu envie alors
De blesser, de voler quelqu’un ?
T’effondrerais-tu en larmes
Ou brûlerais-tu tes papiers ?
Si l’étoffe de ta vie entière
Se rétrécissait à un jour
Ou à une seule petite heure ?

Et si l’on chantait donc la vie ?
Avec le prochain soupir,
Qui te rapprochera 
De la minute qui vient ?
D’un cœur qui bat à nouveau?

Maintenant. Juste – maintenant.

Translated by Elisabeth Zapolska-Chapelle, September 2012. 

Published on Chopinwithcherries.blogspot.com, August 2012.